What historical event do you think would have changed history if it had turned out differently?

[MaryQueenofKnots]

Here's mine:
What if Edward VI had lived?
What if JFK hadn't been shot?
What if Edward VIII hadn't abdicated?

Sorry rubbish title I meant 'change how we live now' obviously it would have changed history!

I think a change of ‘victor’s’ in the World Wars would have really re-shaped history. Or, any major preceding battles throughout history for that matter.

@HoppingPavlova yes that's interesting, and terrifying to think about. I feel the nazis would have burnt out pretty quickly. A change to the victors of the First World War could have prevented the nazis rising to power.

Things would be different if Catherine of Aragon had had a son.

What if Edward VIII hadn't abdicated?

I heard he was MADE to abdicate because he had Nazi sympathies.

Imagine Hitler having tea in Buck House. The horror!

England - and by extension - UK is lucky that fucker never set foot on British soil.

If the French had been the victorious colonisers of Canada and the United States, the world would be quite different, but I am not sure exactly how.

If the French or Dutch had colonised Australia, I wouldn’t exist.

@MariaLuna yes a lot of the aristocracy did, look at the Mitford sisters. It's awful that there isn't more criticism of the antisemitic views held by historical figures, such as TS Elliot and Nancy Mitford.

@TooBigForMyBoots doubtful we would have remained a catholic country but I think Henry would have stayed married to her, had lots of affairs though.

The alleged asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.

We could be posting about how selfish people are to not pick up after their T Tex or not have their Triceratops on a lead.

If the French or Dutch had colonised Australia, I wouldn’t exist.

How would the Dutch have colonised Australia? I know there's Arnhem Land there - a Dutch city with a fantastic Muslim mayor - but they never got so far as Suriname, Dutch Antilles and Indonesia....

I know I don't know enough about colonial history....

I would be interested in hearing your story @TerrorAustralis

If Germany had won WWI.

WWII and holocaust would never have happened.

I think Edward abdicating only made Elizabeth Queen earlier, I presume she still woud have been eventually?

@WandaWonder more his own views that I think would have changed the country for the worse. He was a nazi sympathiser.

MaryQueenofKnots · Today 03:08

@MariaLuna yes a lot of the aristocracy did, look at the Mitford sisters. It's awful that there isn't more criticism of the antisemitic views held by historical figures, such as TS Elliot and Nancy Mitford.

Heard about the Mitford sisters but didn't know TS Elliot was one. Puts me right off him frankly.

These are supposedly literature "clever dicks" but their politics are highly dubious.

UGH.

Henry VIII would never have divorced. The Reformation wouldn't have happened. There would be no Elizabethan Age. And if his son reproduced, no Stuarts, Jacobeans or Hanovarians etc.

What if Tim Berners-Lee hadn’t invented the World Wide Web?

Well no, her uncle was King and his kids, if he had any, would have been next in line.

Elizabeth was Queen because her uncle abdicated, her Dad was then king and she was next in line,

Excellent thread

The Dutch are thought to be the first Europeans to have set foot on Australia. They colonised Indonesia so were very present in the region, and certainly had explorers out looking for new lands to colonise (as were the French).

Dirk Hartog Island off the coast of Western Australia was were, in 1616, after being blown off course a Dutch captain (Hartog) landed and stayed for a few days exploring the islands around what is now Shark Bay. Finding nothing of interest, he made an inscription on a pewter plate and nailed it to a post. He then continued on to his intended destination of Batavia (Jakarta). The plate is now in the Rijksmuseum.

There are also a number of other places where they made landfall, with some of the placenames given enduring. Rottnest Island, off Perth, was so named by Willem de Vlamingh in 1696. He saw the quokkas (cute little hopping marsupials) and thought they were rats, so named the place 'rats' nest' in Dutch.

My own story is not very interesting. But I am an Australian of exclusively Anglo-Celtic ancestry, including some early English settlers. If it had been a Dutch or French colony instead, some of my English ancestors would not have emigrated. So the family tree that leads to me would not exist.

If the indigenous peoples of N America were actually "merciless indian savages" (literally written into the declaration of independence) as described and had been able to defend their land it wouldn't have been colonized, no genocide, no earth destroying inventions, etc etc fast forward we wouldn't have climate change today.

If anyone wants to watch lighthearted nonsense about what could’ve happened if the Russians had landed on the moon first, and the potential implications, watch ‘For all mankind’ on Apple TV. It is a good old yarn about the space race and the colonisation of the moon and mars. Love to watch the real history mingle into the alternate historical storyline - President Al Gore etc.

My dad always used to say things would be completely different if Franz Ferdinand had normal car with roof and windows, not open one in Sarajevo. Can't disagree

I frequently wonder what the world would be like without colonisation. How would the world be different if Europeans had just been genuine explorers instead of greedy invading forces.

Far more recent, but if labour had won the 2015 election, we'd still be in the EU.

Yes but he didn't have any children? So Elizabeth would've been Queen anyway when he died in 1972, having outlived Elizabeth's father by that point.